Instead, five Port Clinton students decided they needed to find out why emergency lights were flashing Saturday night from within Rose Acres at 1221 Madison St.

A woman on the lawn directed Matt Paeth and Adrian Hall into one building while Darius Daniels, Skyler Cook and Brendan Zeitzheim entered another. Paeth and Hall helped a woman from her bed into her wheelchair and brought her outside as smoke billowed through vents inside while the other three boys brought another woman out.

The Port Clinton Fire Department, North Central EMS and Port Clinton police then arrived on the scene, responding to a structure fire call made at 9:32 p.m. Fire Chief Kent Johnson said a clothes dryer caught fire, which engulfed the utility room in smoke and flames.

Johnson said all residents were safely evacuated with no injuries when firefighters arrived. They entered the building, found the source and put out the fire. One cat was rescued, he said.

Patrol officer Rich Vance said he arrived on the scene to see two young men, including one in a Redskins varsity jacket, assisting people out of the building.

Daniels, Paeth and Cook are members of the Redskins junior varsity basketball team. Port Clinton's varsity team topped Margaretta on Saturday night, and the boys had recently left the high school.

"We stopped and got out and saw smoke," said Paeth, who was in a car leaving Cook's house across the street. "I didn't know what was happening. We went to see what was going on, and it got scary with the fire. It just kicked in that we had to help people out."

Daniels said the boys saw flickering lights when they left Cook's house.

"We ran to a woman that was outside," he said. "It was kind of scary. We didn't know what was going to happen. Skyler ran home and got a fire extinguisher, but by the time he went to use it, the fire department was there."

Paeth said the boys' behavior was ingrained by teachers and parents in Port Clinton.

"We have a great group of guys," Paeth said. "It's from the people around us (making sure) doing the right thing is No. 1."

Johnson said North Coast EMS moved the evacuated residents to a warmer area immediately after crews arrived.